by Ava Mason
We were all a team, the best at everything we did, and that meant we always had each other’s backs. We were The Elite for a reason.
Tallon kept going. “We’re not here to spar with you. The others aren’t either, obviously.”
I grinned. It was true. The rooms I chose to workout in were always conveniently empty.
“Everyone knows better than to spar with crazy,” Blaze added.
“Don’t act like you’re scared of me.” I quirked my eyebrow.
“Not a chance,” Tallon said.
As if on cue, a newbie pushed open the door and walked in. He froze when he saw me.
“Sorry,” he said and scrambled back, letting the door fall shut.
Tallon chuckled. “Case in point.”
I didn’t respond. My chest pumped up and down as I sucked in air and let it out again. “So what do you want anyways?” They didn’t usually bother me while I was training, especially this early in the morning. I’d gotten here at five am, even though we’d been up drinking and messing around until two am in the morning.
“What, we can’t just want to watch?” Tallon gave me a wicked grin.
“Sure. I wouldn’t blame you for wanting to. The view is spectacular.” Sweat was pouring down my forehead and into my eyes, making it hard to see.
“You’re an ass,” Blaze said. “If only everyone else loved you as much as you love yourself.”
“No need, I love myself more than enough for everyone.”
I pushed the treadmill up several notches, now sprinting as fast as possible, and gave in to the moment. Running this fast, there was no room for thinking. Just me and the treadmill. I didn’t have to think about that dead woman, my dad, and the shitstorm that was my life, or that cunt wolf.
My skin was on fire. I felt like fucking someone, or fucking someone up. Either would work. A release would be damn good right now. My body was on the verge of collapse but my emotions threatened to burst out of my chest, dragging my dragon along with it. Another dead female dragon. The world was going to hell, the dragon race on the verge of collapse, and the Queen was bringing in emissary wolves to drag our country out into the middle of the supernatural world. It was going to kill us. And I could do nothing to stop it. My dragon growled and my eyes flashed.
He wanted out.
I gritted my teeth, forcing him down as ripples of power washed over my body, making me break out in goosebumps. I needed something, and soon. Being rejected by that wolf and then finding another dead female dragon was getting to me. My steps faltered and then the treadmill belt ripped, snapping my legs. I let out a string of cuss words, jumping off, and they both laughed. They could be such dicks.
“Struggling to keep it together?” Tallon taunted me.
“Shut the fuck up!” Just because they were my friends didn’t mean I couldn’t threaten to take them both if I wanted to.
I wasn’t the Palace guard for nothing. Queen Aria had hand-picked me herself, and that meant something. A lot of the other guards had gone through tests until eventually they had been chosen by some high in command hotshot. I was one of the few that the Queen had come to fetch herself.
Tallon stepped forward, handing me a towel. “They’re going to start putting this shit on your personal tab.”
Jumping down, I mopped at my brow and gave them a look. “So?” I was getting pissed now. “Now tell me what the fuck you want or get the hell out of my face.
“Something’s got your panties in a wad this morning.” I gave him the one finger salute and Tallon sighed. “Fine, we’re here because Max is asking for you. I smell a fight.”
“Sparring?”
Blaze nodded and I kicked the treadmill corpse for good measure before I turned around and walked out of the room. They ought to make a stronger treadmill. We were dragons, for fuck’s sake.
I walked through to the boxing gym with Blaze and Tallon on my heels. A group of guards were already gathered around the ring, waiting for me. I smirked, wishing I’d made them wait longer.
Max stood next to one of the rings and pointed at me. “Took you long enough. I want you in there, with Chymra.”
I glanced at the guy in the ring. He was powerful, one of the biggest fighters I’d seen at the training center since I’d joined. And that was saying something. We had pretty big mother-fuckers here.
Tallon was a good example of that.
But this guy wasn’t all that. I could smell the weakness on him, the shame that marked him a half-blood. With a name like Chymra, he couldn’t be anything else. This was exactly why dragons had to stick to their own. It had worked for us before to share a female and grow the race that way, keeping her safe and producing young that was worth a shit.
This guy, big as he was, was nothing more than a reflection of what the race used to be, with a name that had strayed from the family names of old only to sound more like a dragon than he was.
Max probably wanted to give me a challenge, given that this guy was bigger than I was.
That wasn’t going to happen.
The big guys all thought they pissed liquid gold until someone put them in their place.
I climbed into the ring and stood opposite him, sneering. “Chymra. What a shitty name. I bet you were bullied in school for that name.”
His eyes narrowed, his muscles going taut. “Put on gloves or headgear, so I can rip your head off.”
Arrogance at its finest.
I waved him off. “Nah. I won’t need them.”
“We’ll see about that.” He sank into a fighting stance, ready to fight. What a coincidence – so was I.
I bounced on the balls of my feet. “Let’s go.”
He threw the first punch. It was fast, powerful, but I wasn’t the best for nothing. I could tell where he was going to aim from a mile away and I ducked it easily.
Two, three, four more punches. The same thing. I sidestepped him with ease. It pissed him off. To be a guy that size and lose against me? He glanced around at the crowd that had gathered to watch the fight. I was willing to bet they were all secretly hoping someone would put me on my ass. Taking advantage of his distraction, I speared him in the waist.
Focusing on the crowd would only get him killed. None of this was for the sake of others.
I slammed him down on the mat and I could feel his anger radiate from him in waves, crackling around me. I grinned at him, a cocky son of a bitch if you ever saw one.
That only pissed him off more.
“You won’t be laughing by the time I’m done with you.” He pushed himself off the mat and I let him. I wanted him on his feet so I could plant his face on the floor another time.
This time, he didn’t sink into a battle stance. Instead, he charged me. He was like the Juggernaut, all muscle and momentum, and for a moment, I wasn’t in the ring. I was a kid, unable to defend myself.
But fear and routine was a killer combo when it was about survival, and my body took over, my mind nothing more than a passenger, along for the ride.
Muscle memory was a bitch.
I waited for the blow, knowing that this was what would push me over the edge.
I would let him get one hit in.
When it came, it hit me hard enough that I saw stars. He was powerful, I had known he would be.
I let my body absorb the blow and I went down hard. When I lay on the ground, rage took over. It was what I had been waiting for. No one hit me like that anymore.
I jumped to my feet in a flash and let out a roar. The big guy looked unsure, his steps faltering, his eyes filling with something that looked like uncertainty. I could smell the stench of fear.
Pussy.
I ran toward him and smashed his face, hard. It was all snapshots, from then on.
Him hitting the ground. Then I was on top of him. My fists hitting bone, splitting skin, cracking cartilage. Blood on the mat, red like a sacrifice.
The color of pain, of hatred.
People shouting somewhere in the distance.
<
br /> Max’s face shoved up right in mine, as if that would work.
Arms tugging at me, yanking me back, eventually pulling me off him.
A bucket of water thrown in my face.
I roared again, coming to my senses. I was pissed off as fuck and ready to beat up whoever had thrown the water in my face.
But Tallon was suddenly in the ring with me. Blaze was there, too. Hanging back but ready to step in if he was needed.
“Denver.” A calm voice made its way through my rage and I snapped my head towards it. Tallon. His own power rolled off him like a wave, stilling me.
“Just calm down, man. You’re here.”
I nodded. The feel of his familiar power was warm to the touch, like a bath of water you could sink into, with broken bones and bloody lips. As comforting as an old, worn blanket when you were sleeping out in the cold, hard ground, so beat up you could hardly remember who you were. “It’s okay, man.”
The monster inside of me retreated, growling that he had to pull back, but listening all the same.
I turned my back to Tallon, to the guy on the mat whose nose pissed blood, to see what I had just done.
I wasn’t going to look at the carnage, and I also wasn’t going to apologize. But I held my hand out, offering to help him up. He groaned, ignoring my hand. I wasn’t sure he could even get up; his dragon probably needed more time to heal.
Something drew my attention to one of the back doors. Hunter and Easton stood close to the door, arms over their chests. And in between them was the little wolf.
My dragon emerged, snarling. Mine.
I looked her over; she was a delicious little thing. Perky tits and all curves, unlike the waiflike women who lived around here. Her skin, a mocha brown, looked exquisite enough to lick. And she was a fucking wolf, the lowest of the low.
And yet, I still wanted to claim her. I had to fight the urge to throw her over my shoulder and fuck her against the wall in front of everyone so they would know she was mine.
Her eyes were on me and her face was riddled with disgust.
Fuck. She had seen me lose my shit. What the hell was she doing here, anyway? I looked at Hunter again. He pinned me with a stare that suggested he wanted to punch my face in.
Bring it, asshole. I’d love to show him how much stronger I’d gotten since the last time we fought.
Easton was talking to Max, handing him something, and Max nodded. Then he turned back toward me. “Denver, Blaze, and Tallon. Come here.”
Max knew better to talk to me unless it was serious. Not in the state I was in. The Elite didn’t fear me, not really, they knew how to calm me down. But Max and everyone else stayed away when I was like this.
Maybe I should reevaluate my life.
Or not.
We walked over to Max, with Tallon taking the lead. Max held out an envelope with the royal stamp on it.
“From the Queen. Just now. Get to the showers and clean up. And then get your ass back here,” he said. “All three of you.”
Fuck. I had a feeling this wasn’t going to be good. Anywhere that little wolf was had to be trouble. The dead dragon the other night was a perfect example.
But I wasn’t going to argue with my superior. So, the three of us turned on our heels and, Tallon clutching the envelope, we headed to the showers.
7
Carrie
I trusted Easton and Hunter but they had to be kidding me. These guys weren’t going to protect me. In fact, they’d probably push me in front of a bus the first chance they got. My stupid power was useless to defend myself against them.
And the Adonis with blue eyes… Denver, that was it. He looked like he was as crazy as they came. The look he gave me when he saw me standing here. It was like he was going to murder me in my sleep.
I turned to Hunter. “Are you sure you want these guys?” I looked back towards the other room where about twenty other guards were - some of them running laps, others pumping weights. Two more were in the ring, and none of them as crazy as Denver. All of them seemed very capable of protecting me.
Hunter shook his head. “No, these are the guys, all right. They’re the only ones I trust right now.” He glanced at me, giving me a half smile. “Believe me, there’s no way they would ever betray any dragons. We can trust them.”
I nodded, biting my tongue. If there were spies from within the guards, we had to be careful with who we could confide in. I had to believe that Hunter and Easton knew whom to trust, even if they seemed to really hate me the other night.
After a few minutes, the door from the shower area opened and the three men came out again. They were all wearing black uniforms, perfectly showcasing their muscled forms and I stared at them longingly. I swore someone just cranked the heat up.
Denver glanced in our direction and, smirking when he saw me, began walking towards us. He had the envelope with the Queen’s instructions clasped in his hand. Eyes glanced towards him, some guys even stopped pumping weights to watch him walk across the room towards us. He held the attention of the whole room, without saying a word. The memory of my power fizzling out when it touched him came to mind, making my cheeks pink. He was probably laughing inside, just thinking about it.
The other two stopped when they saw Denver veer off, and hesitatingly followed behind him.
All three of them walked with power and confidence, as if they knew they held the world’s balls clutched in their hand.
Denver’s dark hair was casually thrown back, as if he’d just run his hand through it. His dark, cold eyes examined me, moving from my eyes, down my body, casually pausing on my breasts and my legs, then down to my feet. Then he glanced away with a bored smirk; he found me lacking.
But I, I did not find him lacking, at all. In fact, as soon as he’d looked me over, fire ran through my veins, burning me from the inside out. At his uninterested dismissal, I forced my eyes away. Asshole.
I took in the other two. The blond was bigger and taller. Hazel Eyes, from the bar, the one I’d danced with. Golden tan skin wrapped around layers of thick muscle, yet he walked like a jaguar. Lithe, powerful, beautiful. His hazel eyes bore into me, as if probing me. Curious. He gave me a smile - perfect white teeth lined up in a perfect row. Every single thing about him was perfect, even his perfectly coiffed hair. There was a dimple in his right cheek. While we were dancing, I’d felt his heat and passion. It was sensual, erotic. He’d also kissed me.
And told me I was lucky he liked me.
Anger stirred inside me. How was I going to work with these guys? They obviously thought they were too good for me. And I was supposed to solve a murder with them - something I was seriously under-qualified for. They would discover that pretty quick, I was sure.
The brunette stepped forward, catching my eye. It was the other guy at the bar - the one who’d stepped in right before Sawyer pulled me away. Dark brown skin, almost as tawny as my own, coffee brown eyes, and dark brown hair. Everything dark, everything brown. Almost as if he wanted to fade into the background, be forgotten. Black lines of a tattoo peeked out from his uniform and I wanted to pull off his shirt just to see what was important enough to him to be tattooed over his heart. One of his hands was clasped tight into a fist. His eyes, his stance, everything about him screamed stay away. Rage pulsed from his very essence, and it was directed at me. What had I done to him? He probably hated me just for existing.
And yet, his deep brown eyes pulled me in; I couldn’t look away. At my stare, there was a crack in his facade. A look of pain flashed across his face, then was gone in a second. But I knew what I’d seen.
He was hurting.
What could damage a strong, sexy, powerful dragon such as him? I glanced back down at his clenched hand; he had a pink braided leather bracelet around his wrist. Certainly not the original owner.
And even though he looked like he wanted to smother me in my sleep, my heart ached for him.
“So, the little wolf needs a big, strong dragon to take care of her, huh?�
�
Denver’s taunting voice made me snap out of my thoughts and immediately my empathy crumbled into dust.
“Denver.” Hunter’s voice was low, a warning.
Denver just smirked, crossing his arms and giving me an arrogant stare.
I shook my head. “Nope. I’m not doing this. Not with him.”
Hunter and Easton looked from me to him.
“Do you know each other?” Hunter asked.
“Yes,” Denver said at the same time I said, “No.”
“Why not?” Hunter looked at me. Easton moved to my side, his hand on my elbow in a protective stance.
“What did you do to her?” Easton asked Denver.
“Ha. I didn’t do jack shit to her.”
“He’s a narcissistic ass,” I said. “And he’d probably rather kill me than protect me.”
The other two laughed. “She’s not wrong,” Pink Bracelet shrugged.
“At least about the ass part,” Hazel Eyes cut in, giving Pink Bracelet a sharp look.
An awkward silence fell between us, and Hunter cleared his throat.
“Carrie, this is Denver. I’m assuming you met him the other night when you went out.”
I nodded, and Denver just looked like he was bored.
“And this is Blaze,” he pointed to Pink Bracelet, who nodded at me. His eyes bore into me, catching me in his gaze.
I swallowed hard, unable to look away for some stupid reason. “Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise,” he growled out, not at all sounding like it was.
“And this,” Hunter pointed to Hazel Eyes, “is Tallon.”
Hazel Eyes, Tallon, flashed a perfect grin in my direction, then reached forward and took my hand in a firm handshake. “Nice to meet you, Carrie. We’d be happy to escort you while you’re touring the area.”
